Droupadi Murmu, 64, will become India’s next president, becoming the first woman to hold the post of a disadvantaged indigenous minority. This is evident from the partial results of the elections published on Thursday. With Murmu, who belongs to the indigenous group of the Santal, a woman has become head of state for the second time, where she has mainly representative tasks.
The politician was nominated by the Hindu nationalist ruling party BJP and had won more than half the votes of the nearly 5,000 members of the state and national parliaments late Thursday night, an election commission official said. The official announcement of the election results is still pending.
“Beacon of Hope for Our Citizens”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Murmu on her election victory. “She is a ray of hope for our citizens, especially the poor, the underprivileged and the neglected,” he wrote on Twitter.
Murmu succeeds Ram Nath Kovind, who belongs to the Dalit caste, the lowest in the Hindu caste system. Before entering politics, she had worked as a teacher in the eastern state of Odisha. Most recently, she was governor of the neighboring state of Jharkhand.
representative of native minorities
Murmu is ethnically one of the indigenous peoples of India. Indigenous people make up a good 8.6 percent of India’s population of about 1.3 billion people. The head of state of India is elected by about 5,000 members of the two chambers of parliament and the regional parliaments. The term of office is five years.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
